Marco stared at me with narrowed eyes. “I cannotbelieve you’re fucking him.”
Liam shoved Marco’s shoulder. “What the hell?”
For whatever reason, my brother’s crass words lit a fire in my gut. “Shut your fucking mouth. You don’t get to talk about him like that.”
Marco’s brows rose at my heated words, but he had the grace to look embarrassed. “Sorry, bro. I wasn’t saying anything against Greg. He’s a good guy.”
“Then what was that about?” I shot back.
He looked over at Michael, who shook his head and said, “You’re on your own.”
Marco flipped him off, then returned his gaze to me. “I just thought you were going to take a break from dating after getting rid of that prick, Luke.”
I took a deep breath. I loved my brothers, but sometimes they were interfering assholes. “Greg and I are friends.”
“Who fuck,” Marco added.
I clenched my jaw. “We’re keeping it casual.” I glared at him. “Is that a problem?”
He raised his hands in surrender. “Not at all. It’s just surprising. It’s not usually your style.”
“Yeah, well, my style hasn’t been getting me anywhere, has it?” I took a long swallow of my beer. “I’m trying to figure things out for myself. What I don’t need is a bunch of judgmental assholes picking apart everything I do.”
Michael sighed. “Tony, we’re not judging you. We’re just worried about you.”
Frustration twisted my gut. I was so tired of having the same conversation over and over again. “I’m not discussing this with either of you anymore. Let it go.”
Before anyone could respond, Greg took his seat at the piano, pointed at our table, and said, “Hey, everyone! This next song is dedicated to Marco and Liam, who just got engaged. Let’s help them celebrate!” He then began to play “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” fromThe Lion King. The crowd cheered and sang along. Liam’s cheeks turned bright pink and he leaned against Marco. My brother smiled tenderly at his fiancé, put his arm around him, and drew him close.
A heaviness settled over me. I was happy for Marco, I really was. But dammit, why couldn’t I find the same thing for myself?
When the song ended, several patrons came over to our table to congratulate Marco and Liam. Through a break in the crowd, I caught Greg’s eye and smiled, mouthing the words, “Thank you.” He grinned back at me and winked.
“Casual, my ass,” Marco muttered. I chose to ignore him. Instead, I closed my eyes and listened to Greg sing and play.
At some point, Pete went to get us more drinks, and I decided to switch to bourbon. The place had a decent selection, so I got a double on the rocks. I wasn’t driving, and I was tired of overthinking things.
The song Greg was playing ended, but he didn’t start back up right away. I turned to look at what was going on and saw a slender white guy in a gray hoodie leaning in close to talk to him. My brow furrowed. Greg didn’t look upset, but his smile seemed forced and his posture was rigid. It made me feel like I should intervene.
Marco tapped my shoulder. “Who’s that guy?”
I shook my head. “No idea.”
“Greg doesn’t seem to know him either,” my brother said. “And he doesn’t look comfortable.”
Before either of us could do anything, someone else approached Greg from the other side and handed him a napkin with something written on it. Greg read it and nodded, this time with a genuine smile. He said something to the gray-hoodie guy and swiped through his tablet before starting the next song, somethingIdidn’t recognize but everyone else in the bar did.
The gray-hoodie guy walked away, heading to the back of the room. Once he was out of sight, I turned back to Marco. “There was something weird about that, but I can’t put my finger on what.”
“Yeah,” Marco agreed. “It just seemed off.”
“I think both of you are paranoid and overprotective,” Liam chimed in. “You see bad guys everywhere because of your work. He was probably just asking Greg to play some obscure song he didn’t have the music for.”
I blew out a sigh. “You’re probably right.”
Liam leaned back in his chair. “Of course I am.” Marco didn’t seem convinced, but he didn’t argue with his fiancé.
I took another sip of my bourbon. Liam was right. I was being overprotective. It was probably nothing.
